


Case Of Khymera

by LukasDeAudi



Category: Angels with Scaly Wings (Visual Novel)
Genre: Crime Fighting, F/M, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-20 08:29:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14256957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LukasDeAudi/pseuds/LukasDeAudi
Summary: In the land inhabited by dragons instead of humans, the small crime done by local citizens wasn't exactly something as concerning as runaway human. However, with the crisis of complete world destruction by the space object averted, police departments could start working on the usual jobs. And one of those usual jobs had a serious impact on one of the citizens.





	1. Prologue

"Come on, Khymera. You know how to operate this thing, so help me out over here."

Two smaller dragons were currently situated inside of a city's hatchery building. Their goal was to remove and replace dragon eggs in the life support box, dropped off there earlier the day.

It was around midnight when they broke in, as there was no one in sight. It was a perfect time for their crime to be executed.

Khymera, the yellow runner dragoness, adjusted her cloth hood, and shoved into her slightly bigger male companion and said, "Let me show you how pro's do it." With an elegant move, she performed swipe over the interface of the machine. Its cover, with a hissing of pneumatic locks being released, opened to let them rob its content.

"You've got the fake ones?" asked Khymera her purple partner in crime, who was, like her, covered in thick layer of clothing accompanied with a hood, that covered his muzzle, so it looked like inside of his cape was nothing but darkness.

"Who do you have me for? I know how to do my job. Here we go." With that, with a swipe of his talon, he took off the bag he had hidden under his robes. It looked fairly full and had to be heavy. For him, it was like lifting a feather.

He zipped open the bag and took out four colourful eggs. Khymera had already took out four real eggs out of the machine, and after that, they quickly exchanged the positions of the eggs, putting the real ones in the bag, and fake ones in the machine. With the crime done, they cleaned up after themselves and disappeared into the night. Nothing but several yellow shiny scales was left behind.


	2. Chapter 01

Just few moments earlier, Alex Tomazuki, the second human ambassador, and Adine, young flier dragoness with bright yellow scales and green markings on her body, were out on a beach. As it was dark already, Alex brought a small petroleum lamp, just to have enough light for them to see. Adine wouldn't need such a thing, as she could see fine in the dark, but didn't say anything for sake of her human companion.

Alex and Adine were planning this for some time. Midnight picnic was something really appealing, especially when there wasn't any danger from the space rocks, like that comet they managed to dodge just a week ago. Adine and Alex alike loved the stars and anything space related in general.

"Do we have everything?" asked Adine, carrying a perfectly packed basket on her crescent moon shaped tail, balancing it on the very tip of the tail, instead of taking it in the talons on her wings.

Human just made a sound of agreement. He had a large red towel under one of his arms. That towel was more suitable for a massive earth dragon, rather than himself or Adine, but if you wanted something to prevent sand from getting on you, it was just what you needed. Other than that, he was also carrying a telescope and earlier mentioned lamp.

When they arrived at the spot, Alex unfurled the towel and put it on the ground. It was the same part of the beach, where Adine took him days ago and unfortunately, hurt her wing during a training of her signature moves for competition. Alex placed down all the equipment and get to adjusting the telescope. Adine sat down on a towel, and placed the basket with food between her legs. She sniffed the odour going from inside of the container and licked her lips.

"You would not believe it, Alex, but the bread you bought is still warm." She said with a slight smile on her muzzle, as she turned to the human. Alex just finished the telescope calibration, so he was free to join the dragoness.

"I don't know how Zhong does it. Every time I buy his pastry, it stays warm forever. Same goes for bread." replied Alex, as he took a slice of nice bread with unknown plant seeds baked in it. Alex guessed it had to be some version of sunflower seeds, but never really cared to perform any extensive research. It tasted good, so he ate it.

Adine followed his example and took one of the pieces of roasted white meat. She didn't exactly liked bread with meat. It was always one or the another for her, though she preferred meat all the way. She could catch some fish, as they were on the shore of a sea and they were her favourite, but she didn't felt like it in the given moment. She was looking forward to spend time with her human partner more than anything else.

Alex didn't say he loved her directly, but from what she could feel, as empathy was something she was excellent at, he had strong emotional attachment towards her person. Almost as strong as she felt towards him, from the very moment she met him.

She had no idea why she was like that, liking a human instead of some beefy dragon. It had to do something with human obsession of hers. Kind of scary, to be honest.

Adine took a quick look on her human boyfriend and judged what she did to deserve this. First human ambassador, one that wasn't a complete jackass, and he decided to pick her out of all the girls. Adine thought how stupid she had to look next to the dragoness Alex knew and hung out with sometimes – Anna. Anna had everything, from looks to her smart brain, yet Alex liked Adine more than her.

_Well, I don't perform experiments on anyone, that could be it._

Adine smirked at the thought, as she took another bite of the meat slice she was holding in her talon.

"You seemed to be a lot quieter today. Something's wrong?" Adine could hear Alex, even through the train of thoughts passing in her head.

"Just thinking..." dragoness brushed off the question, as she started studying one of the patterns on the wing of hers.

„What about?" asked the human again, leaning backwards, to get to more comfortable position.

Adine hesitated for a moment. Should she say it in pure, raw form?

„It doesn't make sense. Why me? There are tons of girls who would want you as their mate, yet you asked me out." said Adine, her head now hung down and facing sideways from the sitting human.

Alex thought what to respond. „Well, it's hard to avoid anyone who I bump into every five minutes, especially someone so _adorable_." He said the last word in a manner it raised Adine's body temperature. She blushed and hid her head under one wing.

"Look who's embarrassed." continued the human, smirk forming on his lips, adored with facial hair, as he didn't have an option to shave in weeks.

"Shut up," She playfully punched his shoulder and wrapped her wing around the human. "I am not adorable." Absorbing his heat was something she deeply enjoyed.

Human didn't stop smiling. „You are the most adorable being I've met."

„No, I am not." was her reply.

That went for a minute or so, as Alex kept finding cute terms he would call her, and Adine was declining them in her embarrassment.

It ended when Alex suddenly shifted position. „We should let it go, as you'll burst in flames if we don't." He then kissed his girlfriend on the nose and unwrapped himself from her wing.

"It's almost time." Alex said. He went over to the telescope and pointed it towards the Moon. It looked so big in the skies, much bigger than he remembered. It wasn't anything surprising, because the Moon moved about an inch away from Earth every year. Make it 66 million years, he was in the past, and you'll get a significant number.

Adine had stared his way, then stood up and joined him at the telescope. For a moment, she adored his focused face, because left alone thinking about what he was thinking about was entertaining enough.

Finally, she got the courage and asked, "What are we gonna look at tonight?"

"The Moon," he replied shortly, as his eye behind an elegant glasses kept moving rapidly, searching for something in the optics of the telescope. "A-ha, got him."

"What is so interesting about the Moon?" asked the dragoness, puzzled about the purpose of his actions.

He gave her a look of a High School professor, prepared to give a lesson to a student who forgot to do his homework. "You see, Adine, the moon remains stationary, as it is in the state of tidal lock within the Earth's gravitational pull. However, each year this lock loses grip and the Moon moves away from Earth, as it gains rotation of its own. I'm interested in how is the moon different from the one I used to know at home."

Alex explained Adine a while ago, the portal on the edge of town wasn't actually a portal at all, but rather a time machine. He also told her, he wasn't able to go home, as the original coordinates, leading to his home town, were removed.

Adine knew she should be sad for her human companion, as he lost his only way home. On the other hand, in her own selfishness, she was happy, because he could stay with her forever, not just for a limited time, permitted by those in power.

Adine eyed the human with curiosity she was so famous for. His focused expression, the determination to do what he wanted to do, that was something she desired in a boy she would like to have in her life.

"Well,..." he spoke up after a minute of silence, filled with sounds of his bare feet scratching against the sand, and Adine's resonating breath.

"The Moon's face sure is different." Alex said, as he grabbed a piece of paper and pencil. He started drawing something, that looked like a quick sketch of the Moon, with one eye closed, and the other one placed on the optic of a telescope.

Adine just adored the ability to look at something and draw it without a glance on paper. She couldn't draw herself, so anyone with artistic soul was an interesting subject to her.

The moment Adine had an urge to wrap her human in the wing again, he moved aside and told her, "Oh, excuse my bad behavior. Take a look yourself, dear"

"I didn't mind, really," mumbled Adine, mostly to herself, "Just looking at you enjoying yourself is enough." She adjusted the optics to her eye.

The Moon was particularly pretty today. It wasn't in its full state, due to its left side hidden in a shadow. Perfect condition for the study, because it didn't reflect too much light. For Adine, looking at the full Moon was like observing the Sun, as she had much better eye sight than common human.

Their time together was interrupted by a newcomer. Rustle of the plants above their position made Adine raise her head. Alex didn't seem to hear anything, as he was occupied by the further study of the Moon.

"Sebastian?" asked Adine, even though she knew who exactly was behind the bushed that whole time.

Light brown runner dragon, with a police cap that looked like it was too big for him, emerged from the green masses and approached Adine and Alex.

"Yes, it's me. Adine, ambassador, I have to ask you to come with me." he said, with an apologetic smile on his muzzle.

Alex, finally noticing the brown dragon, spoke up, "What is going on?"

Sebastian cringed at the question, "I am sorry, I cannot tell. Not here anyway. Follow me, please."

Human wanted to protest, but was stopped by Adine, who's curious nature didn't want to let the case go. "Let him get what he wants. I want to know what is going on as much as you do." she said.

Alex wasn't as enthusiastic about the whole thing as Adine was. "I don't like this. This seems like the last time, and I almost got exiled."

They didn't argue more. Sabastian looked over his shoulder, to make sure they were both following, but remained silent.

"How did you found us, Sebastian?" asked Adine after a couple of minutes of silent walking, as it was making her a bit uncomfortable.

Sebastian didn't look their way, but responded anyway, "Amely,"

"Oh, I did tell Amely I was going to the beach, true." evaluated Adine the fact, mostly to herself. "How the heck she's still awake? It's like two in the morning."

Other than that, nothing else happened. No one spoke a word until they arrived to the police station, which was dark and looked abandoned in such early hours in the morning.

Sebastian let them in, because he had the keys. Despite the tense situation, it would almost be nice to revisit the clean and spacious rooms of the police station. Spacious for someone of Alex' and Adine's size, anyway.

"So," started human with a question, before they could even take a seat, "Care to tell us why the eff you dragged us here?"

Sebastian thought if the words human used were offensive or not, then replied, "It's not about you, sir, but about your girlfriend over there, sir." The brown dragon then gave confused Adine a long glance, but remained motionless otherwise.

"Me? What did I do? I have no idea..."

Sound of opening doors interrupted Adine's words. Chief of the police station just arrived. Massive, orange earth dragon, with horns almost as long as his head approached them.

Bryce didn't look like he had a good night sleep, or slept at all. Under his eyes were deep patches of sleep deprivation. The way he walked suggested he really didn't want to there in the given moment.

Sebastian just wanted to greet his chief, but the earth dragon shoved him aside. "Nobody talk to me until I get myself a coffee." He then went to his office and closed the door behind him.

"Charming," pointed out Alex, who was standing by the door of Chief's office and almost got thrown through the wall when Bryce closed them. Adine chuckled a small bit, and even Sebastian lowered the tension he had in him, as he allowed himself to sit down.

They sat in silence. Alex started getting why Sebastian didn't want to tell them anything. He probably didn't know much, and they had to wait for Bryce to arrive.

When the Chief finally got out of his office, looking much better than minutes ago, he took a seat at the same table the rest of them were at.

Bryce cleared his throat. "So, Sebastian. You were the one to call me out of bed. I am eagerly awaiting explanation."

"Sir, I was on my night patrol, when an email came, from the government inspector." said Sebastian in his typical, formal tone.

_Finally some answers_ thought the human, and Adine alike.

"That email contained specific details to call you, human ambassador and miss Adine here, to the station. It regards a crime of egg theft, that happened just hours ago, at the local hatchery." explained Sebastian the situation.

"What does government want with this?" asked Bryce, but couldn't continue, because another dragon just arrived through the door.

"Government is interested in the case, because the future of our race is at stake." said the newcomer, "Agent Khymera, at your service." she added.


	3. Chapter 02

In that moment, everyone just eyed the yellow dragoness that just arrived.

Khymera had a very similar build to Adine, except she was a runner dragon. Signature green circles and stripes Adine had, seemed to be more blue. Khymera had a more slim anatomy, as she was smaller than Adine, but she also had more confidence. That was obvious from the first moment, just by the fact she just barged to the police station in the middle of a night without even knocking on a door first. When Alex focused on Khymera's eyes, he found out she had two different eye colours, with one eye crimson red, and the other one grass green. They didn't have the curiosity, he adored in Adine, in them. They were cold, menacing, like an eyes of a snake.

"Inspector," Bryce was the first to wake up from the apathy, "My sources suggested you were coming when the sun rises."

"Sun has already risen somewhere," replied Khymera, and glanced upon the other dragons, if any of them appreciated, what she just said. Alex noticed her look skipped over him, like he was invisible. What he did notice however, was that Khymera kept giving Adine weird looks, and his first instinct was to grab Adine by the shoulders and carry her away. He didn't like the imperfect clone of his dragon girlfriend.

Like a blunt force, Sebastian jumped in to the conversation with his signature cough. "Inspector, madam. Your message stated you were to meet me to discuss the details of a case."

Alex had to give Sebastian a credit. Human himself didn't have such a guts to talk to someone like Khymera directly in a way Sebastian just did.

Khymera snapped from her sideway staring at Adine's neck, like she was measuring where to bite for quick kill, and turned to the brown officer.

"Oh, yes, the case. Lead the way, Sebasta, whatever was your name."

When the door closed, Bryce snorted in annoyed manner. "She shows up and expects us to sit on our ass. Hell, I thought Emera was bad, but this..." He didn't finish the sentence, as he gave each of a remaining people a concerned look.

"What is really going on?" asked Adine this time.

Bryce signed, "Officially we are not allowed to talk about it, but..." He looked behind him, if the doors of his, now occupied office, were closed shut. He lowered his voice to a whisper, "From what I read in the report, someone broke in the local hatchery and stole four eggs of some important people."

Adine gasped, but before she could say anything, Bryce continued, "Those pitiful agents like Khymera were there earlier than us, and they found a crucial evidence. Scales from a dragon, and those scales were yellow with a bit of green."

"I don't like where this is going," whispered Alex, and he increased his grip on Adine's shoulder. Adine was speechless.

"Some witness saw you, Adine, coming out of hatchery yesterday, with a bag that could hold four eggs," pressed Bryce on, but Adine had enough.

"I didn't steal anything," she exclaimed loudly. Bryce hissed at her, commanded her to be quiet, and Alex grabbed her muzzle to prevent her from speaking at all.

"What would I have out of that?" mumbled Adine through closed lips, as she struggled to get free. She eventually gave up, and placed her head on Alex' chest.

Bryce shook his massive head, "Everyone who knows you would say the same thing, Adine, myself included. However, you know how the agents think."

The time for exchanging secrets was over, though. Khymera went out of the chief's office, malicious grin on her face. She looked over the gathering of Bryce, Alex and Adine, who still had her head pressed against Alex' chest. Sebastian closely followed behind the agent.

"We've come to the conclusion. Miss Adine, you are under arrest," said Khymera, in the best nonchalant tone she could do. It was up to Bryce to gasp this time.

"I beg your pardon, madam, but there's simply not enough evidence for that measure. I suggest..." objected the large dragon.

Khymera cut him off, "It's not up to you, chief. I represent the will of a government and government wishes to have the head of the guilty. I simply give them what they want."

"I won't allow you to terrorize my citizens. This takes time!" growled Bryce, showing off his teeth as a proof he wasn't giving up so easily.

If Khymera's eyes could drip poison, they'd be drowning in acid in that moment. Alex had a strong urge to punch that woman in the face, but couldn't for Adine's sake.

"Very well," said Khymera slowly, "I won't take miss Adine away for now. However, I want few compensations."

_Take what you want, just leave Adine alone_ thought the human.

"One," Khymera raised her right talon with one finger up, like she doubted they could understand her words. "Miss Adine has to remain under supervision all the time."

Bryce was just about to say something, but the yellow agent didn't let him, "Two, she has to remain separated from that human at all times."

"What the fuck I have to do with this?" shouted Alex angrily, but Adine nuzzled his jaw, mostly to prevent him from speaking. He grinned at her.

"And three," Khymera's voice grew more and more excited as the numbers got bigger, "No investigation happens without me knowing, period. I want to know about everything a day prior."

"I understand and accept your conditions, madam," gave up Bryce any sort of resistance.

Khymera gave Bryce a suspicious look. "Alright," she said, "I want a full report of everything you find, without any details left. Until now, have a pleasant day." She turned on her heel and walked out of the main entrance to the starting sunrise.

When was Bryce sure she was out of reach, he cursed loudly, "Fucking Witch!"

"What now, sir?" asked Sebastian, who remained silent for past few minutes.

"There's nothing we can do." sighed Bryce in a manner, documents Sebastian was holding got loosed and flew out of hands of the smaller dragon, along with his police cap. "Oh, I am sorry, Sebastian. Let me help you," apologized the large dragon, and picked up Sebastian' cap.

Sebastian waved one of his talons, "It's okay, sir. Stuff happens," he said, as he started gathering and sorting the documents back in to folder.

"Right, okay. Alex, Adine, please follow me." Bryce got to the original request he was about to make, before the accident.

He lead them to his office, pulled on one of the drawers he had under his desk and took out two shiny pieces of tech, that looked like an electronic handcuffs.

"I can't go against Khymera's orders, but I can decide on execution." explained Bryce and gave each of them a motivational look. "These are tracking devices, I'll put one on each of you and that way I'll know where you are, and what are you doing. Adine," Bryce turned to the yellow dragoness, who didn't look good since Khymera left. "You are grounded home, until further notice. If you'll want to go out, I'll send an officer with you, understand. It's the least I can do."

Adine nodded. She knew Bryce was a good guy, and wanted to make it easier for her. She didn't object.

"And I am getting to you Alex. You'll carry one as well. That way, we can proof Khymera you are to be trusted. I want you on that case."

"I was just about to ask, man." voiced human his agreement.

"I've known you'd want to chip in, buddy," acknowledged Bryce his statement.

In that moment, Sebastian stuck out his head around the frame of office's door and spoke up, "Chief, there's someone who wants to talk to you."

"What? Who the heck it could be at 5 in the morning?" said Bryce as he shot a glance towards the door and Sebastian. "I'll be right there." He then turned back to the human and the dragoness. "For now, go home and get some shut eye. Alex I want you here today at three pm."

"Roger," saluted human, and along with Adine walked out of door.

_I hope it won't get worse._ was the last thought occupying Bryce' mind, before he took a seat at his desk to finish the cold coffee from earlier.

Sebastian's head once again popped up around the frame of Bryce' door. "Sir, about someone waiting..."

"I'll be right there, Sebastian. Give me a minute, or three," replied Bryce, who started being annoyed a bit.

"It's someone from the hospital, sir. It's about Anna," said Sebastian in a tone he would normally use to tell he wants eggs for breakfast.

"Anna? I am going!" Bryce stood so fast he nearly flipped over his table.

There was a hospital guy in the lobby, dressed in white uniform. He had a concerned look on his face.

"Chief Bryce, I've got a message for you," he said.

"Yes?" was all Bryce could say in that moment, as he was kind of surprised. Why would they send a personal to pass messages. They could just call him.

"Your friend, Anna, had asked me directly to get you. She has some urgent business needed to be done, but is grounded to the bed," said the hospital dragon. He didn't seem to mind the suspicious look Bryce was giving him.

"Alright. What's next?" asked the police chief.

"I am afraid nothing, sir. Anna specifically said I wasn't allowed to tell more," replied the guy, again without moving a single muscle. Bryce felt a chill crawling up to his spine. What could this 'business' be?


	4. Chapter 03

Alex himself wasn't exactly in a mood that morning. As soon as he got to his apartment, he made a two cups of coffee. He was forced to gulp them both afterwards, because Adine refused to drink or eat anything.

It was about two weeks they had known each other, but weren't in such a dire situation to that moment. Fighting Reza, that was different, as both of them knew what would happen if they failed. This time however, they couldn't predict anything. Khymera was more or less mysterious about her intentions and there wasn't any statement given from the government either.

"You sure you don't want anything?" asked Alex again after he tried offering Adine fresh fish, he was planning on eating that day.

Adine just shook her head. She didn't speak a word after she was told the painful truth, but her silence was about to go, "Why me? I didn't do anything wrong." she sniffed, holding back tears.

Alex dropped everything, joined his girlfriend on a couch and hugged her. It was their last day together. After that, they would have to get separated and live their life like before. For Adine, it meant to go to work she didn't particularly like. For Alex, it meant to try and get a different job, as he couldn't help Adine deliver anymore. It wasn't that bad, but it hurt. Khymera knew that well. What did she have against Adine anyway? Or was it a held grudge towards humans? Alex couldn't be sure.

Wrapped in each other's hands and wings, they fell asleep on the couch.

Bryce hoped the hospital dragon would be more specific about the whole thing with Anna. He knew Anna had some dark past, some bypassing of the protocol, and denied research, but he couldn't figure out, what she could want of him.

By the time Bryce arrived to the hospital, Sun was already high in the sky. He was still dizzy from not sleeping properly, and burning sensation, he got from staying in the Sun, wasn't exactly enjoyable as well.

Bryce passed a small playground with a bunch of hatchlings. He couldn't do anything, but wonder how long would the playground be standing. Little dragons were sure to do some damage to their environment. Bryce was partially glad they couldn't breath fire in their age. He chose his way with respectful distance from the playing kids. Last thing he needed was a pack of almost feral hatchlings chasing him.

As soon as Bryce entered the hospital, he almost instantly recognized the messenger from earlier. Runner dragon, that carried out the task to tell him the message about Anna, was just talking to an elderly dragoness over the counter of the reception.

Bryce approached the receptionist and coughed to get his attention. Dragon, who just ended the conversation with the elderly lady, raised his glance towards Bryce. He didn't seem to recognize him.

"Yes?" was the dragon's question.

Bryce thought for a moment if he should refer to him as 'sir', as it felt weird. Bryce was used to being called 'sir', not the other way around.

"I was told one patient requested my presence. Miss Anna, to be exact." said Bryce in as clear voice as possible to mask his nervousness.

Receptionist didn't say anything. He instead pointed towards the first door on his right and gave Bryce a white tag with word 'Visit' in bold black letters. Bryce put the tag around his neck, next to the police badge.

After going through the door, Bryce entered a rather large block of separate rooms. He wondered how he was going to find Anna in that madhouse, but then convinced himself to try. Anna needed him, that was good enough. After wandering around, Bryce realized each room had a name of a patient on them. He slapped himself for being stupid. Finding Anna wasn't that bad afterwards.

Anna didn't look good. Bryce knew she had a cancer, because Remy told him a while ago during a visit of the library. Bryce couldn't recall what was the occasion, but he didn't have heart to tell Anna. He deeply regretted that when he saw her motionless in the bed, as he knew she could figure out a cure if she had enough time.

"Hey, Bryce," she whispered through closed lips. Her eyes remained closed.

"Anna, it's good to see you. You look..." started Bryce, but was interrupted.

"Like shit. Don't sugarcoat this, please," she said, now louder than before.

Even though Anna couldn't move well, she did manage to make a gesture with her talon for Bryce to come closer. Bryce did so without a question, putting his head as close as possible to hers, so she wouldn't have to speak so loud and waste the life she had remaining.

"I am dying, Bryce. I want to set things right." Anna whispered, as she gently nuzzled Bryce's cheek.

"You remember the case of Remy's wife?" Anna asked after a while of breathing in Bryce' ear. Bryce nodded slightly and hummed in response.

"Amelia was pregnant when she died. I cut out the unborn child, spliced its DNA and combined it with mine." Anna took another deep breath, "It was supposed to be my last hope in fighting cancer, but,..."

Single tear rolled down her face.

"I failed."

She sniffed, as she was trying to fight the sorrow that was trying to overpower her. She held those feelings back for so long, suppressing her true nature to accomplish her goals.

Bryce sat there in silence. He didn't see Anna in such a state before. She was always a brute and hot head. She almost seemed like she had no morals, yet she was here, grounded to hospital bed, sobbing like a little girl.

Anna finally overcome the sadness and continued her story. "Instead of finding a cure, I cloned myself. I couldn't bring myself to destroy the egg, so I scribbled down a name Amely on it, and placed it down on hatchery's doorsteps."

Anna wiped tears from her eyes and looked at Bryce, who stayed by her side through the whole thing. "I want you to find her, Bryce. Find her and tell her who her creator was, and that she was a horrible person." Anna closed her eyes again, as she reached an edge of her remaining strength. "Please," were her last words.

Bryce stood up, and moved back the blanket that slipped off Anna's shoulders. He nuzzled her cheek again to comfort her. Anna managed to give him a gentle smile.

"Don't worry, Anna. I'll take care of it," Bryce whispered in almost unusually soft tone. He shot one last glance at his dying friend, turned around and left. Feeling of uneasiness was filling his head a long time after he had departed the hospital.

Bryce was at the station and thought what to do. There was an ongoing investigation, that concerned Adine. He didn't exactly know her on more personal level, but he was sure she was a nice girl, working hard to make a difference. On the other hand, there was Anna, who he worked with for some time, and as it seemed, he didn't know at all. He couldn't decide who to help first, because both of these investigations were pretty important to him.

Bryce was so busy with the thinking part of his problem, he forgot Alex was headed his way that day at three in the afternoon. He remembered when Alex had showed up at the police station.

"... told you. Nobody is faster than Adine." Bryce could hear Alex talking proudly of his girlfriend. There was Sebastian with him, who looked a bit worked up.

"Next time she challenges me to race, I am gonna tie her wings together. That girl..." panted Sebastian, using his cap as a fan to cool himself down. They sat down in the lobby, accompanied by several officers who arrived earlier.

"Well, you two sound like you've been having fun," joined Bryce the conversation. He could hide and listen, but would rather not. At his size, it was actually really hard to stay out of sight. Due to his thinking about Anna's request, he forgot about the real investigation.

"Affirmative, boss. Though I'd prefer someone who can't fly," acknowledged Sebastian Bryce' presence. He raises his head high up, trying to look less tired.

"Man up, ladies. It's time to get to business," started Bryce the briefing, as the rest of the department joined them on his order. Bryce wondered how he could manage to run an operation with just six officers in total.

"We've got a runaway fugitive in town. Their target are dragon eggs of important people, and those people want their answers. We don't know who the criminals are, but there are clues to consider, and places to investigate."

Bryce finished his monologue, then he pointed towards two officers in the back of a room, "You two, eyewitnesses."

Bryce proceeded to fill the roles of each officer with a different task, regarding key evidence. Except for Sebastian and Alex.

"Alex, you come with me. We are going to the crime scene. I know these agents swiped it good, but we might find something," said Bryce in now more calm way.

"And you, Sebastian. Take a half a day break from real work and watch our prime suspect. She's gonna need help with all the food deliveries, when Alex is out of question." Bryce gave a brown officer a toothy grin, as Sebastian sighed.

"Yes, sir," Sebastian replied and trailed after the rest of his colleagues.

Alex was to the hatchery before. It was during his first 'timeline' in the dragon lands. He went there with the batch of eggs after his third investigation, because he had a feeling he would impress Adine that way. As it turned out, not carrying that task out during current 'timeline' was a source of all of the trouble with Khymera and Adine. Those eggs would be hatched at the time of the crime, and with their respectful owners. Alex could just slap himself as hard as he could. Bryce raised an eyebrow when Alex did so, and asked him if he was alright. Alex presented his realization about the stolen eggs, with leaving out the fact about him being a time traveler. Bryce raised the other eyebrow of his.

"So, you are saying that you are actually responsible for all of this? How the hell does that make sense? Sebastian carried these eggs to hatchery just a little later," said Bryce.

"Seven hours later than I would. Those seven hours could be very well the crucial ones. If the eggs hatched seven hours earlier,..." corrected human the dragon.

"They'd be on their way to nursery house and parents. Well, that's deep, " finished Bryce the thought. "No sense crying over that now, though. Investigating awaits!"

Hatchery buildings remained closed down, as all the other clients took the eggs home in fear of losing their kids. Bryce sighed at the abandoned state of the building. "It used to be so alive around here," he pointed out.

"What can one person do to the whole community, huh?" added human his opinion.

Bryce sighed again soundly. Alex knew there was an internal struggle within the dragon. Alex got Bryce, his motives and determination. Those were similar to one's he used to know in many humans. What those humans lacked however, was the good will and purity of heart. Those two qualities didn't almost exist among humans and were a rarity to see.

"What's bothering you, Bryce?" asked Alex, when they were just about to enter the hatchery building.

"It's a personal matter," swept Bryce the uncomfortable topic of the table, but human caught it and returned it to air.

"It's about Anna, isn't it?"

"How the fuck...?" Bryce' eyes wide open, he turned his head towards the human in disbelief.

"You weren't her only friend, you know. We used to spend time together as well. Well, before she..." human swallowed the last words of his and took an another approach to the whole thing, "I visited her in the hospital. It mostly turned out to be a session of her telling me, how is Adine lucky to have me as her boyfriend."

In Bryce' mind two dots connected and sparks flew. "Speaking of Adine. She is a volunteer to the orphanage, right?" he asked.

Human simply nodded.

"Hasn't she introduced you to someone called Amely?" pressed Bryce on. He noticed human's suspicion grew with more of the questions.

"She might have," said Alex diplomatically, "What do you want of them?" He was frowning slightly in that moment.

Bryce thought if he was confident enough in his persuasive skills to make Alex tell him more, as he was sure the human knew exactly who the Amely was and where to find them. Bryce decided not to.

"We should carry on with the task at hand. Enough time for anything else later." Bryce ended their conversation and took out the ultra violet light from a bag, he was carrying around his massive shoulders.

"What's that for?" asked Alex, giving his full attention to the police dragon.

"Our forensic specialists let me borrow this. It's for finding traces of blood, paw prints, and such," said Bryce, "I thought it would be a good idea to have it."

Human didn't object a bit. Even he had some idea of how the ultra violet light could be useful.

"What do you have to aid the cause?" asked Bryce with a grin. He didn't expect human to have anything on him at all and hoped he could rub it in Alex's face.

"Well, I have my own Ixodom Sphere." replied human, and Bryce' jaw fell when a shiny orb levitated from human's backpack and kept hanging above his right shoulder, like a small satellite.

"Where did you get that? These toys are expensive," was the first thing Bryce could say after he regained ability to talk.

Human managed a grin, dragon wouldn't have to be ashamed of. "I managed to get one on sale on the internet, bought it off my first pay check."

Bryce eyed me for a moment, as if he was thinking about the truthfulness of my statement. He then slowly voiced, "Okay, you'll be taking pictures then."

As mentioned before, hatchery was mostly empty. Main power breaker had to be switched off, because both of them, Alex and Bryce, tried repeatedly press the button for turning on lights. Alex then switched on the small diode on Ixodom sphere, so we wouldn't have to stumble around in a dark. It was already hard with Bryce as big as he was. Alex couldn't take a step forward without bumping to dragon's side.

"Well, we'd be lucky to find a chair to sit on," commented Alex on the state of the room.

Bryce shot him a glance over shoulder, "Let's not be pessimistic. I take left, you take right. Give me a heads up if you find anything."

So, they tried thier best to go around. Bryce had it better, as he could see in the dark and wasn't limited by the environment. Alex had to relay on his Ixodom sphere and hope for the best.

Bryce was examining a strange stain on the wall with the UV light when Alex called our his name.

"Bryce, I think I've found something."

The dragon was at his side in a moment. Alex was holding a small yellow scale, probably one of many Khymera supposedly confiscated from police archives and were her major evidence against Adine.

Bryce thought for a moment. Khymera knew they were going to be investigating at the hatchery, so as the rules would go, he would have to give away this evidence to Khymera.

"Alex, keep this finding. Khymera cannot have this," said Bryce immediately.

Human raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were playing by the rules."

Bryce smiled, because this sentence sounded as a compliment to him. "I do, but only if those rules aren't outright wrong."

They quickly sweeped the rest of the building. As it turned out, no important data were left behind, or colleagues of Khymera did a good job.

The discovery of yellow scales was more than enough though. With that, they could proof Adine innocent, and possible have a criminal to catch.


	5. Chapter 04

It was an interesting day for Adine. First of all, she kicked Sebastian's butt in race, slightly punished him for interrupting her date with Alex. She knew it wasn't the smaller dragon's fault, as he was just following orders. It didn't change anything about the fact she was a marked a criminal after that.

Adine had a bad feeling about Khymera from the very beginning she saw her. She had a feeling Khymera got her in trouble before. It was something from a time she did deliveries to government buildings, before it was taken over by local restaurant. Adine remembered Khymera had a big problem with the meal she ordered, but couldn't recall what was it. That wasn't why was Khymera trying to get her in jail probably anyway. It did give Adine something to think about, though.

It also made it easier to forget about Alex. Adine's insides hurt like never before. One wouldn't tell the saying 'love hurts' had to be taken so seriously.

Adine sighed for a thousand time that day. She was on a break in the moment, and she was accompanied by Sebastian again. She actually appreciated the effort Bryce was putting into making her feel comfortable in her current situation. Sebastian was the nicest policeman she had a chance to know. He even offered to carry some of the bags, so Adine would be done with her work faster. Though, she had a feeling that was in hope of personal gain, as it would mean he could walk her home and go home as well.

Sebastian ordered one meal for himself as well, just to get an excuse to show Adine where he lived. She wouldn't let the topic of his place go from the moment Sebastian let slip off the fact he had a personal collection of exotic plants. It was true.

Sebastian's place wasn't big, but that gave him an opportunity to manage all the space he had with care. Adine was sure Sebastian was one of a kind in his species. She had never heard of a runner dragon who would like to tend to flowers. Well, most of the dudes she knew, thought flowers were for girls, though.

Adine loved nature herself. Not the way Sebastian did, as her talons weren't quite suited for a job. She was the one who adored cultures of various species of dragons, and her favourite thing of all was the spiritual bond between the nature and dragons. She used to learn every little detail she could find, until work took over her life.

Adine's mind returned back to the current situation. She was sitting at the table in the very restaurant she worked in, cup of coffee in the front of her. Sebastian finished his second coffee already, and his curiosity didn't allow him to stay silent, "What is on your mind, Adine?"

Adine raised her face up, so her eyes met his, "I don't know. This whole thing, I guess."

Sebastian' glance shifted back and forth, as if he was comparing the shades of pink in Adine's eyes.

"What does Khymera have against me?" asked Adine and sniffed her coffee cup. It got cold over the moment she was hesitant to drink it. She took a slow sip, as it was hard to hold the cup for her for too long.

Sebastian didn't reply immediately. There was a sympathy in his eyes, as he was looking at the dragoness. He then pointed out slowly, "You know, you two look awfully similar to one another. Isn't she like your lost sister, or something?"

Adine mentally slapped herself, "Oh, not you too. I had to tell Alex, your boss, and now you the same thing. No, we are not sisters. It pains me to observe people fail to see we are polar opposites of one another."

Sebastian hastily waved his hand at her to stop her outburst. He looked around, like he was guessing if anyone could be hiding in the empty restaurant.

"I am sorry, Adine, but it's not so common to see two dragons that similar," said Sebastian, and before Adine could object, he added, "I am mostly talking about those green strips and dots of yours. In my career I meet a lot of people, and you are the only one that have them. Well, until today..." He went silent after that.

Adine thought if she could take the last sentence as a compliment, "Oh you. I am flattered, but also taken." She blinked in his direction, and covered her face with a wing.

"Eh, I wouldn't try to step on Alex's fingers anyway. You are a great girl, but I'd prefer someone of my own species." said Sebastian to cover his own embarrassment.

"I completely understand," said Adine, "Maybe she would even let you win a race against her."

Sebastian wasn't having any of that and objected, "This again? You've cheated!"

"Cheaters, keepers. Rematch?" Adine was in a mood for some racing, besides she wanted to see Sebastian loose again.

"But no flying this time!" He agreed on a race.

Besides the finding Bryce and Alex had, no other investigation yielded any solid evidence, and the scales couldn't be used anyway, for reasons Bryce brought up earlier.

They had nothing, or at least every officer seemed like they weren't out there performing a investigation for half a day.

When Khymera arrived to do the inspection of the evidence and effort, she wasn't happy.

"I am displeased, chief. Your work isn't sufficient, and it will have consequences," she said after going through the reports.

Little voice in the back of Bryce's head screamed and urged him to rip apart that witch's throat. Bryce closed his eyes and sighed, "Inspector, let me..."

"My one agent does better job than your whole department. We are wasting time, while the guilty dragoness runs loose," Khymera was on fire, almost literally. Two small streams of smoke were going out of her nostrils.

"Madam, if you'd let us to go through the evidence you managed to find..." tried it Bryce again, but only hit a wall of resistance.

"So you could twist it the way you like it. For example that your friend Adine wouldn't be put in jail, where she belongs." There was no way Khymera was letting the topic go. She was so sure of herself she overheard the low growl, that escaped Bryce's throat at the mention of Adine. The rest of Bryce's colleagues remained silent, as none of them had the guts, nor the vocabulary to go into fight with raging inspector.

"There's a presumption of innocence, madam. I have to follow the protocol," reminded Bryce the yellow inspector.

Khymera just snorted and commented, "Protocol? Rules can be overwritten in case of need, chief, and trust me I am working on that."

Without saying goodbye, or letting Bryce object again, Khymera left.

Adine won again. It so happened Sebastian slipped and before he could regain his balance, Adine was already long gone.

"You cheated again!" cried out Sebastian in frustration. Adine kept giggling to herself through the rest of the afternoon, and Sebastian didn't feel comfortable with loosing to a Flyer. He was a Runner, damn it. Running was something he should be good at.

"Eh, don't worry, Sebastian. I won't hold it against you. Good race though," tried Adine comforting him a bit.

It was late already when they decided it was time to call it a day and return to their homes.

As Adine and Sebastian were going through the now empty and dark streets, the brown officer heard something.

His inner senses kicked in and he grabbed Adine's muzzle to silence her eternal ability to talk.

"What are you..?" She mumbled, but then heard the same sound Sebastian did before.

There were two dragons in the front of them, talking in a manner Sebastian didn't particularly like. Luckily, it was so dark each party couldn't see each other.

Sebastian tried his best to make out what was going on in the front of them.

"... it's not wise to use your influence that way, Khymera," said the larger earth dragon. His build reminded Sebastian of Bryce and Remy mashed together. He wasn't sure what colour the dragon had, because he was covered in strange, grayish cloth.

The smaller runner dragoness raised her head above the one of her companion, "I know what I am doing Fyr."

Earth dragon growled in displeased manner, "I can't afford to keep Emera in the dark forever. You better get the next batch ready."

"How am I gonna do that? Hatchery's busted!" exclaimed Khymera loudly. Sebastian could see her companion, Fyr, straitened up in shock and looked around.

Sebastian held his breath for a moment, as he thought that the criminals saw him, or Adine. Nothing happened, though.

"Eggs or kids, doesn't matter to me. Try orphanage. That yellow bitch you accused volunteers for that place anyway, so she has the great motivation to help those kids," continued Fyr.

"By kidnapping them. Great idea," replied Khymera.

Sebastian knew what he had to do. There wasn't anymore of the conversation, as both Fyr and Khymera left the place, their shadows disappearing in some of the bushed around the street corners.

"That bitch!" Cursed Adine, "I'll personally do something horrible to her, damn the consequences!"

Sebastian grabbed Adine by the wing, pulled her up. "Come on, let's get you home, so I can report to Bryce," he said.

It was late in the evening. Well, at least Bryce felt like there was a massive boulder on each of his eyelid.

On the other hand, Sebastian was full of energy. He was bouncing from feet to feet as he was explaining what he just saw and heard.

Bryce yawned, "Don't want to sound rude, but you didn't think of following them, Sebastian? They could be anywhere right now!"

"I apologize, sir, but I had Adine with me. Considering the facts..." pointed out Sebastian, but Alex, that emerged out of the other side of oversized sofa interrupted him, "Good job, buddy. Putting Adine in more danger wouldn't be a good idea."

Bryce snorted, as if he had his own opinion about putting someone in danger. "It doesn't change the facts. Khymera has a goombah, someone who works at the government and keeps Emera in the dark. Why is that important?"

Alex was the one with an answer, "It proves Khymera isn't clean herself. I'd run the profiles of the council agents and notified Emera there's a mole inside of government."

Bryce shook his head, "Too suspicious, Khymera would deny anything we'd say. Sebastian, did they mention anything about their next move?"

Sebastian was quick as ever to reply, "They did, sir. No specific date, but it regarded the local orphanage."

"Are they targeting places connected with Adine on purpose, or it's just me?" pointed out Alex his concern.

Sebastian confirmed his speculation, "The other one, Fyr, did say, 'eggs or kids, doesn't matter to me. Adine has the motive for both.'" He didn't specifically mention the word Fyr used. Alex was on edge every time someone brought up the topic of Adine being guilty, or imperfect. Alex held Adine quite high in regards of perfection.

"Why are they going after her of all?" said Alex.

It was Bryce's turn to add something as well, "I don't think it matters, as there's probably nothing personal in it. She was just a convenient target, that's my opinion anyway."

"Our next step, chief?" asked Sebastian, as the long waiting was making him feel nervous.

Audible sigh escaped Bryce's lips, "As much as I'd like to hit a hay for today, you are right Sebastian. We can't let this go by unnoticed," Bryce scratched back of his head. Alex could almost imagine the gears turning inside of tired dragon's skull.

"Err, you, Sebastian, take Alex with you and go on patrol around the orphanage. I'll join you as soon as possible," came up the large dragon with a briefing of sorts.

Both Sebastian and Alex saluted and announced in unison, "Yes, sir."

Bryce shook his head and went to rob the kitchen off more coffee. God knows he needed it.

To stumble in the dark again, Alex hoped he would be spared of such a thing, as he was in the similar situation for a third time that day.

Sebastian's soft breathing was somewhere on his right, and it gave Alex some calm, even if he couldn't see the dragon clearly.

"How the heck are we supposed to investigate anything when it's that dark?" objected human, after tripping over loose stone, or branch for multiple times over the course of few minutes.

"Just stay quiet for a moment, will you? Use something else than your eyes for once," growled Sebastian, because human's outbursts were making him more nervous than he needed to be. Sebastian had a feeling he knew who the mysterious Fyr was, but couldn't put a finger on it. He had a feeling he met the said dragon on a council meeting during his first or second year in force. Fyr was the head of the team of agents that went to clean up after the messy night with Maverick's ill brother. Oh, Maverick, hot head, but he would come in handy in the present moment.

"Sebastian? I think I see something," whispered the human out of sudden. Sebastian clearly wasn't paying attention for more than five minutes, that even a human like Alex was able to see something earlier than him.

Sebastian raised his head over the bushes they were hidden behind. There was a shadow in the front of orphanage.

"We got our target. Let's wait and see what they are up to," decided Sebastian.

"So, that bitch Khymera could accuse Adine again?" verbally pronounced Alex his disagreement, and threw his hands up, "Not on my watch, Sebastian."

Sebastian frowned and put hand on humans shoulder, "What are you gonna do? That's an Earth dragon twice as big as you we are talking about."

Human shook Sebastian's hand off, "I'll try and stop him, even if I had to fight him empty handed. Adine's fate is at stake."

"Stop thinking about Adine for once, you lunatic. Let's wait for Bryce at least..." Sebastian raised his voice, but with no effect, because Alex was gone already before he could finish the sentence.

"Damn it, Alex! Wait for me!" cursed Sebastian and jumped the bush with an elegant scissor move of his legs. If he was a human, that would count for a world record in jumping without running start.

Alex had his Ixodom sphere out, levitating just above the shoulder, providing enough light to see several feet ahead. Sebastian was closely following in his steps.

Door to the orphanage were unlocked, first sight there was something wrong. It was just another clue for Sebastian, the one behind the crime was a double agent.

An audible feminine scream filled the hall above Alex and Sebastian. They both knew who the target was immediately.

"AMELY! HOLD ON! UNCLE ALEX IS THERE TO HELP!" screamed the human and send the Ixodom sphere ahead. It's light illuminated a large, hooded figure, standing at the open door. Unconscious Amely was at their feet.

Alex dashed forward with one fist out and ready to punch. "You bastard!"

With a dull sound, human's hand collided with dragon's skull. Dragon roared in pain, because Alex hit his eye, blinding him on one side.

With a sweep of tail, he tried to shake of the attacking human, but Alex was too quick for him. The human was already sitting behind the dragon's neck, hands of the underside of his jaw.

Sebastian used the moment of surprise and added his weight to Alex's. They both held the hooded criminal down.

The dragon they caught struggled for a moment and then gave up. His heavy breathing was filling the air.

Sebastian recollected himself and asked the criminal a question, "Alright, buddy. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I've got nothing with you, police scum!" growled the held down dragon.

Alex formed a fist out of his hand again and hit dragon's head with all the might in him. Dragon whimpered, as if he didn't deserve the worst treatment.

"I'll ask again," tried Sebastian the second time, "What were you doing here in this hour?"

"None of your business!" growled the dragon again and struggled to get free like an enraged bull during Rodeo. Alex and Sebastian had hard time holding him.

"Who's business it was, Fyr?" asked someone, who just appeared around the corner. It was Bryce, who's timing couldn't be more precise.

"How the heck you know my name? That bitch Khymera betrayed me, right?" Fyr started being spastic, because he just realized he wouldn't be getting out of there unharmed.

"It's not wise telling names of your friends, Fyr," smirked Bryce, who seemed to be happy with the whole situation, "Now, why do you and Khymera steal dragon eggs, and kids too apparently," asked Bryce, who approached the unconscious form of Amely and moved her to safe distance from raging Fyr.

"Khymera made a deal with wrong people!" started the dragon, who lost any sort of will to fight at that moment. "Whole government will suffer if she won't pay for what she asked for."

"About what exactly are we talking about?" asked Sebastian, who was getting tired of holding the dragon down.

"I am not telling you anything, you little, brown piece of..." screamed the dragon, but Alex hit his temple again.

"Stall us all you want. I'll break my wrist if I have to, asshole!" barked Alex in such a hateful manner it made Sebastian and Bryce exchange looks. They never seen Alex that angry before.

"Answer him!" shouted Bryce.

Fyr didn't move for a moment. "Alright, but then you'll tell these two to get off me, okay?"

"You've got my word, if you won't try to run away." pressed Bryce on, partially agreeing to truce.

"Anything, but strained neck. How much do you weight, human?" sighed the grounded dragon.

Situation turned over from deadly serious to almost hilarious in the matter of seconds.

Alex and Sebastian climbed off the hooded dragon. Fyr got up and wiped a bit of blood from his temple. "Ow, you did a number on me, human. You have a strength of a dragon in you."

Alex frowned, "Flattery won't get you anywhere with me. You've helped hurting my girlfriend... "

Audible chuckle escaped Fyr's lips, "Adine is your girlfriend? Let me laugh a little, that wyvern couldn't find anyone crazy enough to date her for years. I have to know, I love the place where she works."

"Alright, alright. That's enough. Let's pack up here. Sebastian, could you do me a favor and carry the little one. She'll need someone to comfort her when she wakes up."

"Sir, if I may suggest, Adine is the closest thing to a mother Amely has, shouldn't I...?" asked Sebastian, but Bryce didn't let him finish.

"What did you say? Her name is Amely?"

Sebastian and Alex exchanged weird looks. "You didn't know? Is that why you asked me about her today?" said Alex.

Bryce shook his head, not as an answer, mostly to clear any inappropriate things out of his mind, "Yes, but let's focus on the present. With luck, we can solve more than one mystery today."

 

 


	6. Chapter 05

Fyr was placed in one of the comfortably cold prison cells at the police station. It was on Bryce's order, because he didn't want to miss on more sleep. He, and the others were dead tired, that was why Sebastian and Alex didn't object against the idea of locking the criminal up for a night.

As there wasn't much left to do, Bryce bid Alex and Sebastian good bye. Sebastian insisted on staying awake, because he had to look out for Amely, as she could wake up at any moment. Alex caught up with the idea, and insisted at staying as well. Bryce only waved a paw, like he wanted to say, 'Do what you want, it's your health.'

Sebastian and Alex came to an agreement to take shifts at watching Amely, and occasionally visit Fyr.

There was another thing to consider. Khymera was still a government agent, and thus she had access to a lot of places. Alex was almost sure, she would show up the second she'd hear, Fyr was caught. Alex obviously shared his concern with Sebastian.

"Well, maybe you should go check up on your girlfriend as well," pointed out Sebastian another fact, "She was Khymera's target for a while, and who knows what that agent could do to her."

Alex did think of that, but he also knew Adine was more than capable of defending herself. She was one strong girl after all.

The night went by uneventful. Amely slept soundly on a couch, next to snoring Sebastian, who completely forgot he should be awake and ready.

Alex couldn't sleep at all. His head was buzzing with thoughts of sorts he never had. What was going on really? He decided to stay in this strange world, even though he knew the humanity was struggling to survive. However, after the time Alex spent here, he didn't care anymore. Only way he could go with the portal was backwards, and he wasn't a big fan of starting his relationship with Adine from scratch, as he was happy with how it worked out for him this time.

This visit to a dragon lands was his fourth. Alex didn't know why he could remember this time, as he was sure he couldn't any time before. Alex knew the rules, the possibilities of his actions as he tried many of them at that time. He saves Sebastian from certain death, by telling him to go watch the fireworks. He saved Anna by going on a date with her, even though it wasn't as nice as he had hoped. In the end, it felt like he didn't achieve anything. His love for Adine prevented him from progressing further. Alex couldn't bear to lose Adine again, as he watched her die in his hands once. One terrible experience indeed.

Amely shifted out of sudden. She'd fall off the couch, wasn't it for Alex who caught her in time. Well, 'caught' was a strong term. Alex sat on the floor, his back leaned against the couch, and Amely simply put her weight on him.

Alex turned his head towards sleeping Amely. There was small smile on her muzzle.

Sebastian snored particularly loudly. He woke up with a strong shake and announced, "I am awake! Not tired, not sleeping!"

"You sure are, buddy. Your snores knocked out only one window, no worries," said the human and stuck his tongue on confused Sebastian.

Dragon scratched his head, and realized he didn't have his hat on. With few spastic sweeps of his hands, he investigated the couch for his hat's whereabouts. After a while, Sebastian raised his glance towards the door. He then saw his hat on a rack next to them.

"I think I need a little pick me up. You, Alex?" asked the brown dragon, who got off the couch and stretched.

Alex, who was petting sleeping Amely, gave Sebastian a look and nodded, "I could use some. I hope Bryce won't get mad with us."

Sebastian smiled, "I am not taking Boss' stuff, it's too strong for me. I'll go pick something at Adine's place. I need to accompany her to work anyway."

"Well, good luck. Just tell Adine I wish her a pleasant day," smirked Alex, who had a feeling Sebastian had some unfinished business with Adine from earlier.

Bryce arrived at the police station in relatively good mood.

He saw Sebastian, Alex and Amely, who woke up during Sebastian's absence, having their breakfast.

"I hope you aren't spoiling the kid. Adine would kill me if she got hurt somehow," laughed Bryce a little, as soon as he saw the best selection of donuts in town, on the table beside Alex and Sebastian.

Sebastian waved his hand at Bryce, "Aye, chief! Good morning. We won't spoil the little princess, don't worry."

"Well, good to know. I am going to make a phone call to tell those at orphanage the situation was quickly resolved," said Bryce and disappeared in his office.

Alex chuckled a bit, "Heh, you've told Adine, right? How did she react?"

Sebastian shook his head, swallowed the piece of pastry he had in mouth and responded, "I thought I'd have to chase her. She wanted to abandon her shift and go see Amely at once. I had to make a fricking promise I'd protect the life of the kid with my own."

"Well, when Adine's gets attached, she gets attached," chuckled the human again.

Amely slowly finished her donut, and shifted her attention to Sebastian's tail, which was placed just about a feet from her.

"How come she doesn't talk, though? She's old enough, " asked Sebastian.

Alex scratched his head, "I don't know, man. She was always like that, since the moment I met her."

"Side effect of Anna's research?" laid Sebastian another question, before his eye widened. "Ow, Amely! That's my tail, not a scratching post."

Giggles of a little girl could be heard around the lobby, as Alex lifted the kid up. "Well, darn. You weight a ton, Amely," huffed the human, as he placed Amely on the ground beside his feet.

Sebastian checked his tail for damage. "Phew, I got lucky."

"Though, if you lost some of your tail," couldn't help himself Alex, as he was petting Amely on head, and she was nuzzling his waist gently, "You could totally brag about those scratches, say they are battle scars."

Sebastian's expression changed, as he was considering the possibility, then burst into the laughter, "Yeah, that's great. I'll do that."

"Good morning, gentlemen. I hope you are having fun," said the voice behind them, the voice Alex recognized immediately.

Sebastian saluted, knocking his prized hat to the side of his head, "Madam Emera!" Alex copied him, but in more relaxed manner.

Emera didn't seem to mind the pose of both of them and went straight to the point. "My sources have told me the council agent has been arrested last night - Agent Fyr. Is that correct?"

Bryce stuck a head out of his office, and was quick to join Sebastian and Alex. "Yes, madam. I and my right hand, Sebastian, did the arresting. He was..."

"Save your breath, chief. I read your report just ten minutes ago. May I do the planned the interrogation myself? I've got several personal questions for our culprit," asked Emera. Alex could feel the tense mood the government employee was in.

"Of course, madam. It's your agent, after all," replied Bryce, "Let me lead you to the holding cells." They were gone as soon as they appeared.

Sebastian sighed, "Okay, that wasn't something I needed to see today. Now, the whole government is in the process."

"On the other hand, if Fyr and Khymera went rogue, then it could help us in the end," contemplated Alex at the idea of Emera being useful for once.

"Well, let's hope so. Would you be a gentleman, and took Amely back to the orphanage. I need to go and watch Adine again," said Sebastian, and put his police cap straightforward, as he just noticed he accidentally knocked it to the side earlier.

"Sure thing, see you," agreed Alex, "Come on, little one. Let's get you home."

"But," said Amely out of sudden, "I am home. With you and Adine."

"Oh, boy," said Alex and Sebastian simultaneously.

In the surprisingly bright interrogation room were three chairs, two on one side of metal table, one on the other one. The room was soundproofed, and the only connection with the outside was a small web camera.

"So, Fyr, care to tell us about the tremendous events of last night?" asked Emera, in her typical slow and cold tone.

Fyr shifted. He rejected the chair, as he felt more comfortable with sitting on the ground. "Well, I and agent Khymera got into trouble. More precisely, only Khymera was in trouble, I decided to help her."

"What sort of trouble?" asked Emera again, as if the fact of two of her people going rogue didn't concern her at all.

"Well," Fyr was sweating, "Khymera made a contact with some sort of information brokers. She didn't tell me why, just it was an important deal."

Slowly, but surely, Bryce was getting the full picture. He tried his best to not feel sorry for Khymera, as she was still one first class bitch.

"The dealers asked for dragon eggs of people on the list they provided. Khymera agreed to the deal, thus..." continued the culprit.

"So, you helped her to break in the hatchery and steal those eggs. Why Fyr?" said Bryce.

Emera raised her talon, to silence the police chief, and allowed her to speak, "Khymera was suspended from any official state business just about a week ago. You had to know that, Fyr!"

"She was? Well, that explains why she didn't have the access card with her," thought Fyr aloud.

Emera gave Fyr a suspicious look, "You didn't even considered it weird?"

"Yeah, actually. I asked her, but she told me she forgot to take it," shook Fyr his head, and he saw Emera's raised eyebrow, he hit the table with a talon, "She was my friend for 10 years, darn it, I trusted her with my life."

Bryce looked down. Where Fyr hit the table, its metal desk bent down and adjusted itself to shape of Fyr's hand.

"Calm yourself, agent! What you did was wrong, but you can always redeem yourself," said Emera, her superior authority shining of her. "Where is Khymera now?"

"Well, damn if I know," threw Fyr his front limbs up, "She hasn't made any contact since the last evening."

Emera didn't make any moves and slowly formulated her question again, "Where could she be then?"

Fyr contemplated the thought for a while, and just when Bryce had a feeling Fyr won't say another word, the culprit spoke up, "There are only two places. Her apartment, or the hide out of the information breaker, as she was summoned there yesterday."

"Her apartment is empty, and has been for several days. Where is the mentioned hide out?"

"In the worker street, in one of the empty houses. Only those who know the password may pass, though," said Fyr.

Bryce snorted, "What is this, a child's game? Who the heck uses 'password' these days?"

Last thing Fyr said seemed to please Emera, "Well, it only shows what kind of people we are dealing with. Fyr, would you lead us there? I want to have that bandit slum purged."

Fyr didn't have the strength to resist. His career was lost anyway, so he could at least drag the one responsible to Hell with him.

It was up to Bryce to think of optimal solution. On behalf of Emera, who dismissed any orders Khymera issued, Bryce released Sebastian of the duty of watching Adine's every move. The police chief wasn't sure if the yellow wyvern appreciated that fact. She grew to like to poke Sebastian with uncomfortable questions during their forced time together.

The release of the separation order also meant Adine could return to Alex, which made both the human and dragoness the happiest couple on Earth. They had a lot to talk about.

Another thing was Khymera. As exposed as she was, the yellow menace couldn't do more damage, because everyone in town knew how she looked like. She wasn't exactly quiet during her career as an agent, and had tendencies to use her privileges to terrorise those she didn't like.

On the other hand, no one in town recognized Fyr's bronze hide. The former colleague of Khymera's was more or less a quiet guy, who liked his peace. Bryce once contemplated if the situation turned out differently, Fyr and he could even be friends. Adine at least thought so, as she was the one to bring the idea up.

Bryce canceled any planned investigations that regarded the case of Khymera. It was about time to sweep the criminal nest, and Bryce needed people for that.

"Listen here, gentlemen," started Bryce. In the lobby was full number of his officers, minus one, who managed to hurt himself during his leasure time.

Sebastian and Alex were standing side by side, saluting like the biggest dorks, smiles on their faces. Bryce tried his best not to smile as well. He needed to remain serious.

"We've got our lead, thanks to the cooperative actions of our culprit," summarized Bryce the situation. Fyr, who was standing next to the police chief, frowned, because he was getting tired of being reminded of his guilt.

Bryce tapped the white board, where a rough drawing of a building layout was presented, "Our goal today is to sweep out the criminal nest. The sources are telling us about two entrances, one on the surface, the other one underground. So, we'll split in three teams. Earth dragons go with me, we'll create a distraction at main door, while the smaller team crawles through the pipes, and get the criminal scum from behind. They'll also serve as added security, in case someone tried to escape. Remaining officers and agents lent by Emera will keep the building encircled, " Bryce took a quick look at the faces of his colleagues, " Everyone understand your roles?"

Group agreement filled the room. Someone, probably Alex, even shouted 'Let's get them'.

"Alright, grab your gear, have a snack, I don't care. We are going in hot," finished up Bryce his briefing.

Everyone went to suit up.

Sebastian sighed when he took the kevlar vest and put it on.

Alex looked Sebastian's way, as he tried to get in one similar vest his dragon friend let him borrow, "Why the long face, buddy?"

Sebastian waved his hand, "Heh, I hoped I wouldn't have to put this damn thing on me till the day I die."

"Well, you are not gonna die today, I'll make sure of that," said Alex, "Even if it meant taking a hit for you."

Sebastian smiled slightly, as it made him feel better, "Don't you think I wouldn't do the same for you," said the small dragon.

Alex gave him a toothy grin, and formed a fist. Sebastian did the same. They exchanged a friendly bro-fist.

"Buddies forever?" asked Sebastian.

"Best ones around, forever," added Alex.

Adine was just about to finish the deliveries for first half of her shift.

She was currently sitting on a bench in town park. Sunshine was drawing shadows all over her, and Adine had her banana shaped tail over the head, so the Sun couldn't reach her eyes.

She was just thinking about what to get for lunch, when someone approached her.

Adine looked up, raised her tail off her vision, and saw a rather slim looking runner dragon. He had a business looking shirt on him.

He penetrated her with his yellow serpent eyes, and spoke up, "Miss Adine?"

"Yes. Who asks?" replied Adine, just like she would reply to a customer.

Dragon frowned, "I've got official orders to arrest you for your crimes."

That raised Adine to her feet, "What? All charges were cleared. Who's your supervisor? I want to..."

Dragon didn't give her a chance to finish. He turned around with a swift motion, and hit Adine over the head with his whip like tail, knocking her out immediately. Flyer dragoness just fell down with an audible sigh.

When Adine came to herself, she had some kind of blindfold over her head. Smell of some unknown perfume and old building filled her nostrils, and she found herself coughing uncontrollably.

"Finally! I thought you've killed her."

There was a distant male voice on Adine's left. She turned her head in that direction to get the most of the ongoing conversation.

"She's a Flyer, damn it, she'd fly away. I had to knock her out," replied another voice, in which Adine recognized the the hazel eyed dragon from earlier.

Third voice joined the conversation, "Well, I hope this is a good call. I can't show my face around town anymore. That bitch Emera blew my cover."

Adine knew immediately, that was Khymera.

"Khymera, you bitch," yelled Adine, "What did I ever do to you?"

Soft, feminine hand brushed against Adine's cheek, as Khymera kept speaking, "Oh, you did nothing, dear. You are just the unfortunate, insignificant person, who's not gonna be missed."

Adine felt striking pain in her cheek, as she could sense her own blood dripping down from a deep cut. Adine could swear Khymera just licked the talon she scratched her with.

"Was that necessary, Khymera?" asked the voice of yellow eyed dragon. Adine felt the tip of Khymera's tail touch her nose, and then it hit her from each side of the muzzle. Small sigh escaped Adine's lips, as she bit her tongue.

"No, but I enjoyed it. Great reward for ending my life, way to go Adine." Khymera's tail was once again hanging above Adine's nose, as she could feel its tip making small circles.

"You suppose she'll help you, even after what you did to her? Like, I am all for satisfying my boss, but that's too much Khymera. We just wanted to help some kids grow in better families," said the other male dragon, the one who spoke up first when Adine woke up.

Khymera chuckled, "Yeah, then give me my origin papers, so I can punish my biological parents for leaving me, and we are over." Her voice grew more impatient over the sentence.

Dragon objected, his voice trembling, "You know it's not that simple, Khymera."

Adine could laugh, as it seemed the dealers Khymera made an agreement with looked like they were more scared of her that Khymera of them. Where was the catch?

"Well, then I'll have to torture that yellow bitch to death, unless she decides to switch sides. What do you say, Adine?" said Khymera, cold calm.

Chill ran down Adine's spine, as she gulped.

In full gear, Bryce felt like he couldn't move. The rest of his officers felt more or less the same, except for Alex and Sebastian. These two were once again laughing at some inappropriate joke, instead of paying attention.

The supposed building with criminal nest was sealed and encircled. Bryce's radio beeped, as the leader of Emera's agents gave him an echo. Bryce and his brute force team were clear to go.

Bryce pressed the button on his transmitter, "Hammer stand by. Mole team go."

Alex and Sebastian darted forward and disappeared in the torn up pipe ahead of everybody.

Bryce's radio beeped again, "Shadow to Hammer, orders?" Shadow team were Emera's agents.

"Tie the strings, Hammer's about to strike. Repeat, Hammer is raised and about to strike," replied Bryce. He was particularly happy with himself for coming up with such unclear sentences, so if anyone was listening, they would have no idea what's going on.

Bryce's Earth dragons marched forward and with the coordinated motion, attacked the front door. It shattered upon impact.

The impact could be heard through the building. Khymera let go of Adine, and sniffed the air.

"What the hell was that?" asked Khymera loudly. Her expression clearly said she was expecting some kind of trouble. Question raised, was she more suspicious of the information dealers, or the police.

The other two dragons didn't seem to be in a mood for more deals. Without an answer, they left the room, breaking the door frame in the process, as they both tried to get as far away as possible.

Khymera grabbed Adine by the ropes that were preventing the unfortunate flyer to escape, or move in general.

"You are going with me!" barked Khymera, "Whoever's making that noise will think twice when there's hostage. Come on, move!"

Khymera held the yellow flyer close to herself, with force no one would expect. The runner agent was convinced as long as she had Adine with her, she was in no danger.

Sebastian and Alex found themselves in dark, wet and stinking corridor.

"This seems like a sewage tank, watch your step," couldn't Sebastian help himself to point out the obvious, and uncomfortable truth. Alex contemplated if he was grossed enough by stepping in literal waste, but then convinced himself it was for someone he loved.

The noise from the other side signaled the frontal offensive just started. Alex darted forward to help Sebastian raise the rusted trapdoor, leading to the rest of the building. The worthless hatch snapped in half when they applied force to it.

Sebastian was first to climb up, as he needed Alex to give him a small lift. Alex could get up without a problem, and he would rub it in Sebastian's face if they weren't in a situation like the current one.

Building seemed like it was abandoned a long ago, only few clean spots and several pieces of computer equipment hinted someone had been using the ruin as a hideout.

Sebastian avoided enormous cobweb, covered in thick layer of dust, most likely originating from damaged walls and ceiling.

Alex just pulled himself up from the broken hatch. He dusted himself off, wiped clean his shaded glasses and joined Sebastian on the other side of the room.

"Well, it seems like there's only one exit," said Sebastian, "Through the locked door, and here."

Alex scratched his ever growing facial hair and thought, "I'd say, let's wait it out. If no one shows up in another five minutes, break the door down and flush the nest out."

"Hey, good luck with that. Breaking down an old oak door, and stuff. I'll try and pick the lock, for sake of your shoulders," chuckled Sebastian, as he grabbed his standard issue tool box. Alex expected him to pull out a laser cutter, or something like that, but Sebastian chose a passkey, or a monkey wrench as Alex liked to call them. With its help, Sebastian got to disassembling the backdoor security.

To Bryce, the building looked abandoned. As the first thing that came to his mind was Fyr betrayed them and sent them to a wrong site. On the other hand, Bryce's sense of smell never failed him. He could pick up a recent scent of Khymera' perfume, so even if Fyr sent them to a wrong place, Khymera had to visit it just few hours ago. That was good enough, even if for potential evidence.

Bryce was marching forward, massive armoured vest on his chest. Steps of his and other two colleagues behind him could be heard through the whole building.

Suddenly, muffled voices sounded above them, followed by a significant noise of breaking doors. From room upstairs emerged two shadows, trying to run as fast as possible. When they reached the staircase, one of them tripped and both shadows fell down the stairs.

Bryce increased his pace. He was at the fallen figures in seconds.

Both male Earth dragons, wrapped in each other, one knocked out, other one buried under the weight of his companion.

Bryce smiled, lowered his head to the conscious dragon and whispered, "Gotcha!"

Smaller criminal with hazel eyes screamed and swiped his whip tail at Bryce. Police chief dodged the hit and chomped down on the tail. Criminal yelled in pain, as his body started twitching. He was trying to get away, his talons digging down into his unconscious friend on him. Over the course of seconds, the talons of his looked like the one's of a butcher.

Bryce increased the grip on the tail. He felt blood in his mouth, and could swear it wouldn't take too long to bite off the tail of his owner.

Comrades of Bryce went forward to secure the twitching Runner with their paws and teeth.

Criminal tried to resist, but he only acquired a hammer like hit to his head. He didn't move afterwards.

Bryce raised his muzzle, as he let go of the limp tail. Third and the most familiar shadow showed up.

"Great day to you Bryce. Look what I've got," said Khymera, like it wasn't a big deal. Blindfolded Adine in her grasp struggled to breath.

Bryce wanted to take a step forward, but Khymera put one of her razor sharp talons on Adine's neck. "One wrong step,..."

"Heh, you are trapped and outnumbered, Khymera. Release the hostage!" said one of Bryce's comrades.

Khymera laughed, "Oh boy, making demands, are we?" Then her face turned serious again, "No! Why would I? I hold all the cards! I, Khymera!"

Bryce had a clear idea of what happened. Khymera lost her mind on the hunt of something crazy, and dragged those who were foolish to help her down the same path.

Sebastian hadn't been picking a lock that fast ever before. He could hear Bryce and Khymera on the other side of the door. He knew he needed to hurry. Alex behind him, with his less sensitive ears wasn't as nervous as Sebastian, but still nervous enough.

Finally, the lock clicked and the door opened. Sebastian was the first to dive in, Alex closely followed.

There was Khymera, slowly going down the old, squeaky staircase. Bryce and the other two earth dragons on his right and left respectively.

Sebastian and Alex were hidden and Khymera didn't seem to be aware of their presence, because she was talking in an excited tone.

Bryce noticed the two newcomers, but didn't let Khymera get suspicious. He made a sweep with his tail, to give Sebastian an order to stop and wait for signal.

"What do you want, Khymera?" asked Bryce, in surprisingly clear and calm way.

Khymera shifted her position, as she was standing on one feet the whole time, "I want you to help me find someone. My biological parents. That's all."

Bryce nodded, "Sure, that should be no problem. Now, just release Adine and..."

Khymera hissed like an injured cobra, "Fuck off! Adine's staying with me until I get what I want!"

Sebastian had to put an arm in Alex's way. Human was so excited about snapping Khymera's neck, he was ignoring the fact it could cost his beloved her life.

_What love can do to a man_ thought Sebastian.

Bryce remained calm, even though Khymera just insulted him, "Alright, I'll call someone to get the thing and bring it here. We've got all the time in a world."

Khymera didn't say anything, but her grip on Adine lowered, so the Flyer dragoness could breath again. Adine shot Bryce a desperate look, like she wanted to say, 'Anyone, save me.'

Bryce raised his hand to the radio station on his shoulder and pressed the button to transmit a message, "Bryce to Shadow team, come in."

"Shadow here, state your order," replied a voice from the other side of wire.

Bryce cleared his throat, "We've got a tie here, and there's an ongoing negotiation. I need you to collect all the facts about our friend Khymera and bring it here..."

Sebastian noticed Bryce's tail raised a bit as he was talking. The time to strike was about to come.

Alex cracked his knuckles and stretched.

"...NOW!" screamed Bryce the last word and hit the ground with the tail of his.

Gathered dust raised from the floor and made a thick cloud, reaching almost to the ceiling, blinding everyone for a few moments.

Sebastian and Alex dashed forward.

Alex grabbed confused Khymera's neck and with all his might pulled backwards. Khymera lost balance and fell. In the process, she lost her grip on Adine's ropes.

Sebastian grabbed Adine and took her from Khymera. He made an impressive leap and landed next to Bryce's massive form.

Dust settled.

Alex struggled to hold Khymera down, but fought heroically. Khymera turned her head, flame forming in her mouth. With a flash, room was ablaze.

Bryce yelled, "Sebastian, take Adine and get out of here. You two, carry out Khymera's friends. I am going to get Alex."

In the meantime, Khymera recollected herself and was just trying to bit down on Alex's neck. Alex, severe burns on his skin, had only limited power to hold the raging dragoness back.

Bryce used the moment of surprise and bit on unsuspecting Khymera's neck.

Yelp of pain escaped dragoness' lips, signaling Bryce had hit the spot.

Khymera struggled for a moment, and then went limp, her body slowly losing the remaining life.

It was over.

One of the agents outside had to call the firefighters. In the moment Alex and Bryce limped out of the burning ruins, there were at least two units fighting the flames already.

Bryce had Khymera on his back. She wasn't alive anymore, sadly. Bryce hoped he could interrogate her, as he was curious about the reasons for her crimes.

There was Fyr, also. His former colleagues had to call him, because he was the closest thing to a friend Khymera had.

Sebastian unwrapped Adine out of the ropes. She gave him a quick hug, and then proceeded to go and check on Alex. Sebastian just remained there, heavy blush on his face.

The human was breathing heavily, sitting on his ass. Blades of grass had drops of his blood on them. Weren't for that, Adine would be immensely jealous of the medic dragoness, who was tending to her injured boyfriend.

"Ow," mumbled Alex, "Heck of a day, huh?"

Adine could only smile, "Never ever do this again. I am not worth losing your life over."

Alex chuckled slightly, then sneezed because the disinfection medic applied was irritating to his nose. "Heh, you are way more important than I am," said Alex.

Adine could argue about how debatable was his last sentence, but decided against it. Alex had enough for one day.

Bryce let go of Khymera's lifeless body. Forensic experts were more interested in that than him anyway.

Friends of Khymera, who just started coming to themselves were properly checked by the doctor, and arrested. Even if they were proven innocent later, no one, Bryce included, couldn't be sure if they had some important information about the case.

That was one of the things Bryce had to do that day. Case files had to be filled and closed, evidence had to archived, reports had to be sent.

Bryce also didn't forget about the promise he gave to Anna. After all that happened, he had a feeling everyone knew more than him. He had to start with Adine, Sebastian, Alex when he would get out of the hospital,...

Fun times were just around the corner.


	7. Chapter 06

It took another two day to close all the case files, thanks to Emera, who wanted to have everything done the most precise way possible.

Bryce sighed as he figuratively measured the pile of paper he had to go through until he could go out of his office and get a beer.

It was the last day before the weekend, which didn't help raise Bryce's morale even a little bit. Working overtime at Friday? Who does that?

Knock on his office's door disturbed the thoughts of the earth dragon.

"Come in," said Bryce in his usual deep tone, maybe even deeper that time.

The one who entered was Adine and she had someone else with her.

"Hey, big guy," she said in a happy tone, waving one of her wings at Bryce in friendly manner.

"You know, you shouldn't call me like that. We are not kids anymore, Adine," replied Bryce. Strangely enough, he couldn't remember Adine when he first met her at the crime scene during the Reza investigation. After that, it was like someone had flickered the light on. He used to hang out with her, but then something happened, and Bryce couldn't figure out what.

Adine made a room for a smaller dragon following her. It was that small, white and red colored girl, that stayed over one night when Fyr was arrested.

Adine cleared her throat, "Alex mentioned you've asked him about Amely, so I brought her to you."

Amely, yes. That was the name. Anna specifically said, she scribbled down a name Amely on the egg of her creation.

Bryce looked down at Amely. When he thought about it, she did remind him of Remy and Anna mashed together in the weirdest way possible.

"Yeah, I did," said Bryce. He then proceeded to explain the circumstances, what Anna told him, his own theory, facts like that. Adine let Amely took a seat across the table, and she stood behind the girl, wings wrapped around her small form in a protective manner.

"So, you are saying," asked Adine, but before she could finish the sentence, she turned to her protégé. "Amely, sweetheart. Could you go outside and see how's uncle Sebastian doing?"

Amely nodded and left with a word.

Adine shifted her attention back to Bryce, "So, Amely is a clone, huh? What does that mean? You are not taking her away, Bryce!" growled Adine.

"Hold your horses, girl. I am not gonna do such a thing. I've just thought, does Remy even know legacy of his dead wife lives on in Amely? Doesn't he deserve to know?"

Adine calmed down a little, "That guy is irresponsible! I don't want Amely being raised by a dork like him."

Bryce would chuckle, but didn't want to risk enraging Adine more, "I don't know, he does work for Emera. I'd expect someone smart and caring to take that position, but that's only my opinion."

Bryce then looked at Adine. Her pink eyes didn't have an anger in them, but fear. It was more or less clear Amely was special to Adine, but Bryce would never thought she was that attached to Anna's creation.

Bryce sighed after a while of silence, "Give him a chance, Adine. I'll talk to him, tell him everything I've told you and we'll see if he will even want to adopt Amely. Remy wasn't exactly fond of Anna, so..."

"Don't even suggest the last thought. Who in their right mind would reject such an opportunity," objected Adine.

"Well, you did, for reasons of working too much. Remy could very well do the same thing thing," pointed out Bryce the fact.

"Who've told you that? Oh, you don't have to answer. There's only one person to know this," said Adine, answering her own question in the process. She then looked out of the window, facing away from the police chief.

Bryce was just about to say something, when Adine jumped in again, "You know what, I'll ask the caretaker at the orphanage. She'll be happy to hear Amely could get a better future."

"Thank you. It would mean a world to Anna to hear that," said Bryce, giving Adine a grateful nod.

Adine shook her head, "No, I should thank you for bringing it up. No one else did anything to solve the mystery of Amely's origin. Thank you, Bryce."

Adine gave Bryce a small smile and then left his office.

Bryce could hear her calling Amely and Sebastian saying something in an excited manner.

Getting back to work wasn't as bad as he had thought, not after such an achievement.

Alex thought about the future. He knew he would have to take the portal again, to lose his progress, and possibly never achieving similar ending again.

So, he kept laying face up, his healing burns itching under the bandages.

Suddenly, a hooded figure opened the door of the hospital room. Alex wondered who it could be in the middle of a night, and the answer didn't take long to reveal itself.

It was the Ambassador again.

Alex raised his head towards the newcomer and stated, "You died! How...?"

Ambassador laughed under the mask. Alex could remember Ambassador being a female, but the voice sounded more male this time.

"Oh, that's because I am not the same Ambassador." The figure then proceeded to undo the marks of their face.

Alex gasped, because he wasn't looking at anyone else, but his own twin.

Before he could say anything though, the clone of his spoken again, "I know you are thinking about the importance of your journey. I've done so too, and I assure you you have to go through the portal. It's the only way how to save everyone."

Alex thought if he was having a dream or not, "Screw you, I've got everything I want from life."

Another figure joined the Ambassador. It had the shape of a dragon.

"Oh, that should be your motivation. Let's say, you'll end with someone nice after all," said Adine.

Alex didn't understand anything, so he did the same thing he used to do at school. He fell asleep.

The hooded Adine turned her head toward the future Alex. "Do you think it worked?" she asked.

Future Alex just shrugged, "We'll know soon enough. Let's go back to portal and our own timeline."

Hooded Adine and future Alex disappeared as fast as they appeared.


End file.
